What to read after Water, Electricity, and the Poor?

While consumer utility subsidies are widespread in both the water and electricity sectors, their effectiveness in reaching and distributing resources to the poor is the subject of much debate. Water, Electricity, and the Poor assesses and promotes cost effective approaches to the financing and provision of infrastructure services to the poor in developing countries. It brings together empirical evidence on subsidy performance across a wide range of countries. In addition, it documents the prevalence of consumer subsidies, provides a typology of the many variants found in the developing world, and presents a number of indicators useful in assessing the degree to which such subsides benefit the poor. This book presents the findings of recent research on subsidy performance and provides guidance to policy makers, utility regulators, and sector practitioners who are contemplating introducing, eliminating, or modifying subsidies for water, sanitation, and electricity service. It may also be of interest to those who view consumer utility subsidies as an instrument of social protection—for transferring resources to the poor where weak administrative structures make cash transfers infeasible or costly.